SONG PREMIERE: Rachael Sage Is Divine Visionary on “Heaven (Is A Grocery Clerk)”

Vocalist and innovative multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and producer Rachael Sage will be releasing of her forthcoming full-length studio album, “Choreographic”, due May 20 (MPress/ILS/Caroline). Through this self-described album of “ballet-pop”, Sage delivers a musically ambitious and emotionally accessible tribute to her very first love: Dance. Fresh off the heels of her 16th song placement onLifetime TV’s Dance Moms, Sage’s music has reached an ever-widening audience since her previous release “Blue Roses”, amassing over 9.5 million views on YouTube. Sage has shared stages with Sarah McLachlan, A Great Big World, Judy Collins, Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, Jamie Cullum, The Animals and Ani DiFranco. She has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and received numerous songwriting awards including The John Lennon Songwriting Contest (Grand Prize) and several Independent Music Awards.

Connecting to her roots in ballet, the NYC-based Sage “envisioned each song as a fully-choreographed multi-media experience” while crafting Choreographic. The result is an inspired set of piano-based chamber-pop merging orchestral elements with her signature blend of folk, pop and rock. Glide is premiering “Heaven (Is a Grocery Clerk)’ off Choreographic, a colorful work that shares flourishes of Sigur Rós and Kate Bush, and identifies Sage as a divine musical visionary.

“Heaven (Is A Grocery Clerk)” is a song I wrote about a painting made for me by an extraordinary homeless artist named Riki Chen,” says Sage. “We met a couple years ago and became fast friends, as we were kindred spirits who both painted, wrote poetry and played music. He recently passed away, but before he did I was grateful to have the chance to perform the song live for him at a club in San Francisco, which was incredibly moving. He was living in a shelter, and he brought me a half dozen other colorful watercolor paintings for me to keep safe for him; it was the last time I’d ever see him, and the song is a tribute to his creative passion. Even while he was living on the street, he always found a way to paint, and to share his gifts. I performed the song live at TEDx Stanford last year with his painting behind me on a large screen, which felt like a great way to honor his spirit. His artwork is also on the disc-face of my new album, and I hope he is looking down from heaven and smiling!